Sell in buyers market or hold

[Ricardo Zuniga]

Hello Forum,

My name is Ricardo I live in Southern California in Reseda Adjacent to Encino and Lake Balboa. I would like any advice or recommendation on my current situation. My wife and I bought our first home 6 months ago for the price of $490,000 its a 3Bed 1 bath with a 2 car detached garage and fully remodeled home. We currently owe $470,000 on a 30yr Fix at 3.85% FHA loan. The property when purchased got appraised for $560K. I am looking at what options I may have to maximize on my opportunity to invest in rental properties.

1. I was looking into refinancing into a conventional loan and get rid of the PMI but now interest rates have gone up. I don't know if that still makes sense. I also wanted to pull some money out and convert the garage into a rental.

2. Another option I had in mind is sell the property and try to get top value for it. Then buy a smaller 2bed 1 bad property in a better area. Put a portion of the profit down and use the rest to convert the property into a 3bed 2bad which will increase the value of the home and gain my equity back and then some and have a lower payment in order to buy a rental property.

What I am trying to accomplish  is a way to use my profits to have leverage on buying rental properties. Any suggestions or comments on what will be the best practices on this situation will be greatly appreciated.